80 Maine Coon cats seized from one home. Can you believe it? I can't!

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West Hillhurst, Calgary, Alberta, Canada: This is a very peculiar report by CBC from April 2016. It is no longer news, of course, but it deserves to be looked at. The report states that the Calgary Humane Society seized about 80 Maine Coon cats from a home because they were ill and neglected. They did not know whether this was a "breeding situation" but they were investigating. 

Brad Nichols is senior manager of animal cruelty investigations with the Calgary Humane Society. (CBC)
Brad Nichols is senior manager of animal cruelty investigations with the Calgary Humane Society. (CBC)

At the time they were considering charges. I don't know of any Maine Coon breeder who at any one time has 80 Maine Coon cats in the pipeline as breeding cats or cats to sell. Perhaps it happens but when I go online and look at Maine Coon breeder's websites I see a couple of litters of kittens for sale and perhaps an adult retired breeding cat, something like that, but 80! That sounds very peculiar. I would suggest that they've got it wrong. Perhaps some of the cats were Maine Coons but that a lot of them were not. I am speculating.

ASSOCIATED PAGE: Maine Coon Breeder Dumps Kitten At Animal Shelter

Mix up - previous report

The same news media website CBC reported that in August 2016 about five months after the above report, that a Calgary woman living at West Hillhurst (same city/town) was facing charges after 89 cats were removed from her home. 

They also state that most of the cats were so bad that they had to be euthanised. This is extraordinary. I have never read of such a high percentage-in fact it is two thirds-of cats rescued from a cat hoarding situation which had to be euthanized because of your health.

The 57-year-old woman was charged with permitting animals to be in distress, an offence under Alberta's Animal Protection Act.

But is this the same woman? Was she subjected to two raids on her home to seize around 80 cats on each occasion? I don't believe it. I don't know but it looks to me as if the reporting has got confused here. 

It is more likely to be a straight case of one case of cat hoarding resulting in numerous cats becoming moderately to seriously ill and some being euthanized and some being saved and rehomed. And I don't think there were 80 Maine Coon cats saved from this woman. But I could be entirely wrong.

Location: West Hillhurst, Calgary, AB, Canada

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